Between The Pipes: Taylor Gauthier
On a Sunday afternoon, after a win against the Bloomington Bison, Taylor Gauthier sat down with Olde City Sports Network to speak about his WHL days, training camps, and more.
Before turning to the professional ranks, Gauthier played in the WHL for five years. He dressed in 166 games for the Prince George Cougars and averaged 3.12 goals against average and 0.907 save percentage. In December of 2021, Gauthier was traded from Prince George to the Portland Winterhawks and dressed in 28 games for them with a 2.16 goals against average and .923 save percentage. The WHL prepared Gauthier for the professional level early. “I think it's just being given so many opportunities to play. Prince George early on put a lot of trust in me, and they allowed me to make mistakes. They kept playing me, and they weren't worried about, necessarily, the wins and losses; they were worried about how I was developing as a player. Being in the league for five years, I saw a lot of things. I gained a lot of valuable experience, and you know, looking back at it, I wouldn't change a thing. I'm forever grateful for everything that both organizations that I've played for gave me. I think the WHL, as a whole, is an unbelievable league to play in. They have some of the top talents in the league in the world for that age group every year. I really enjoyed it. It's a very pro-style schedule, and I think it's helped me a lot over these last couple of years of pro. I wouldn't change a thing.”
Injuries are tough on any player to come back from and bounce back from. Due to the physical nature of the sport, with concussions, fractures, sprains, and contusions, hockey itself has a high injury rate. Gauthier tries to bounce back from injuries and has managed to come back from injury without missing a beat. “It’s tough. I mean, you can practice all you want, try and make it as game-like as you can and practice, but at the end of the day, game reps are so much different than practice reps. I think just trying to find your confidence early on when you come back because it plays such a vital role in your game. It's probably 70% in your head, and the rest of it, when you're confident, it kind of takes care of itself. So I think the biggest thing for me is just, early on in the year when I came back from being hurt, I was just trying to put together good games and not trying to do too much and do things that aren't a part of my game. To be honest with you, I struggled with it early on, and you’re so worried about the injury that you have and you're worried about reaggravating it or missing time with another. It's tough, but I think I've done a good job in managing that and this last like probably a month and a half, I felt really good, and it’'s a good time of the year to kind of hit my stride and I'll try and help this team win as many games as we can”
Gauthier has spent time in the NHL training camp, along with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton training camp. Both camps have provided great and beneficial experiences for him. “I think it's great. I spent a lot of time in Wilkes over the last three years, and I've gotten to know all the coaching staff, the management, and the players really well. It's a great group up there. They're win-first mentality, and their room is super tight. It's good to see them finding success cause they're they're a great group of guys. When I was up there earlier in the year, when I was hurt and in camp, I could see the potential in the group. That's my goal, to be in the AHL full time, but that isn't in the cards right now, and all you can do is play with the cards you are dealt. I played quite a few games my first year at Wilkes, and it's a great group. It's a great organization that treated really well there, and it filters down here with all the talent that we have that are signed on AHL one ways and two ways. It helps out a lot here, along with Wilkes, just being so deep and having that mix of young talent and veterans. They are a great team, and I wish them all the best. If my time comes, I'd love to be there, but for the time being, being in Wheeling, I love it here.. I wouldn't wanna play anywhere else. I love all the guys. I love the coaches and the management, and everyone here is top of the tier. I love it.”
Every little kid’s dream is to play in the NHL and to ink that contract. Gauthier's work ethic and perseverance got him through to signing his first NHL contract. Gauthier inked a three-year entry-level contract with Pittsburgh on March 1st, 2022, and finished that season out with WHL Portland Winterhawks. “It was a dream come true. It's something that I've dreamed of since I was a little kid, being four years old on the outdoor rink with my dad and my family. Being able to do that was a huge accomplishment for me. I had a reminder on my phone from the time when my draft year started to the time I was 20 to sign an NHL contract, so to be able to finally shut that off, it was very rewarding. It wouldn't have been possible without everyone who supported me and helped me through the way. I had so many coaches, teammates, and family members who helped me through some hard times. It was a dream come true. You know, you signed it, enjoy it for a little bit, and then it's back to work. I'm very honored to be a part of this organization. I think it's a top-tier organization in the NHL and produces so much talent. You see Bloomer [Joel Blomqvist] coming in from Europe, right on the cusp of opening being a full-time NHLer. Sergei [Murashov] came over this year and has done unbelievable. So to be in that same ballpark, it's pretty cool. It's been a great experience for the last three years, being here and being in Wilkes and being at training camp and Pittsburgh with some of the all-time greats Sidney Crosby, Evegeni Malkin, Kris Letang, the list goes on and on. It's unbelievable.”
Preparing mentally for a game is just as important as preparing physically. A goaltender like Gauthier does his homework on the opponent and tries to do everything within his control to be prepared for when he hits the ice. “Honestly, I try and keep it pretty loose. I wanna be a guy that presents confidence. Just be a guy in the room that you know can help a young guy out if he is struggling. If I see something in the D-zone that maybe we could tweek in-between periods. I like to know the other team inside out. I watch our team video. I just try and have fun.. I mean, hockey is supposed to be fun. Once it comes to game time, you can't do anything else to prepare other than what you've done throughout the day. So if you do everything in your control to prepare, come game time, just put it all aside and just have fun.”
Communication for a goalie is just as important as it is for the forwards and defensemen. Goaltending tends to be an isolated position, but one that the person in the position is able to watch the game and help the team.“I try and, you know, take advantage of TV time-outs. Just quick things. I see something, try and let my D know maybe there's something on the breakouts that I see regarding the other team's forecheck or something like that. I try and watch the other goalie pretty closely, and it's kind of my way of staying in the game when the pucks in the other end. So I'll try and just watch and give little pieces of advice here and there. In the room with if I see anything, I'll let them know. Sometimes, you feel a little isolated back there, but I get my words in at other times.”
Most players have a player that they either look up to playing or just model their game after. For Gauthier, times changed who he modeled his game after.“When I was younger, I wanted to model my game after Carey Price. I was a huge Montreal Canadiens fan. My dad was one. My grandpa was one, and my sister's still a huge fan. As I got older, I kind of realized that wasn't really my style anymore. It took me a lot longer than it should have to realize that. I really enjoy watching the Bobrovosky play; his mix of athleticism and how he reads the game is second to none. I think he's been one of the top goalies in the league for the last 15 years. I wouldn't say I model it after him, but I definitely watch how he plays and how he reads certain scenarios throughout the game and kind of try and take pieces of his game and then as well as Vasilevsky, so a lot of Russians I model.”
Tough games will happen. Good games will happen. What will happen is a goaltender trying to keep both of those types of games in check. Goaltenders arguably have the toughest position on the ice. If they have a bad game, they are blamed for it. If they have a good game, they are hailed for it. Gauthier touches on what he does to bounce back from the bad games and what he can learn from them. “It's trying not to ride the roller coaster. I think there are times as a goalie when you feel very isolated back there, and it's very easy to get kind of caught in the waves. You play a really good game, and you can very easily catch that high of you play really well, and you kind of let off the gas because you played well the previous game. On the other end, you play a bad game, and you try and do too much to correct yourself. So I think it's trying to level out how you prepare for games, how you watch your games, whether it's good or bad. I try to take the goods that I did and the bads that I did and just learn about them, and you try to improve on the things that you didn't do very well. On the flip side, the things that you did well, you try and keep them in your games. So it's a lot of juggling the goods with the bads. It's a tough position to play in. It's something I'm still trying to learn from. I think it's gonna be something that I'm gonna continue to grow with throughout my entire career and that I can't be perfect, and I just kind of got a reset, and I'll let the good go along with the bad.”
Minor league hockey is a grind for all and any players that are in these ranks. Staying motivated is key, especially through good seasons and bad seasons. Every guy wants to be that next call-up to the next level. Gauthier talks about what he does to stay motivated through the course of the season. “I think I looked at my first year. I was the fifth guy in the organization, and two weeks later, I was the next call-up to the NHL. It can change really fast. At the same time, you can only can control what you can control. That’s work ethic and practice, work ethic and the game. My goal is to play in the NHL. It's just coming to the rink every day and doing everything I can to try and put myself in that position for when that time comes. It may come, it may not come, but I know at the end of when all things are said and done, I can look myself in the mirror and say I did everything I could to put myself in the best position. I can go to sleep every night knowing that I did everything I can. It’s just kind of that carrot at the end of the string, just dangling in front of you, and you just chase the carrot. You just gotta stay motivated. There are some days that it's harder than others, but it can change really fast. I think I've done a good job of staying the course, putting my best foot forward every single day, and not taking it for granted. I think you know, I think of a lot of guys that I've played with and against that die to be in the position I’m in right now. To be in the spot I am with this team and coaches, it's a blessing, and I'll say that my job is to be a professional hockey player. A lot of my buddies are all in school right now, or just graduated school that are you know working in the real world, and they would they would give an arm and a leg to be in the spot but I am right now, so I just look at it as a privilege every single day.”
Gauthier has played in 29 games for the Wheeling Nailers this season. He has a current record of 17-10-1-1. Gauthier has posted two shutouts this season, both coming against the Cincinnati Cyclones.
- Samantha Wismer/Olde City Sports Network
Photo Credit- Stacey Grubich/ Olde City Sports Network